In Knoxville, a Black high school contends with a massive rise in teen shootings
Constance Every and a student of Austin-East Magnet High School protest the police shooting of Anthony J. Thompson Jr.
(Jenny Jarvie / Los Angeles Times)
May 2, 2021 3 AM PT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
The Black community that surrounds Austin-East Magnet High School was still mourning its dead four students gunned down this year when the news broke.
Another shooting, this one inside the school.
With Austin-East in lockdown and police with rifles patrolling the halls, it was hours before officials announced that a fifth student had been fatally shot.
For many, this killing was the hardest to take: The shooter was a police officer, and he was Black.